Life or death?
by Pandalulu
Summary: Because of some problems I had to re-upload the story...It is a story about Ace in Marineford and one of my OCs. Akainu is about to kill Ace, will he success and the young pirate die? DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT!


Hey guys :D

Here is a little One Shot about Ace at Marineford :D :D :D :D

I wrote this FF because I really dislike, no, hate the death of Portgas D Ace, and I think I'm not alone there, am I? Also one of my German readers asked me as to why Ace always dies in my other stories (uuuh spoiler x'D) and I could always only tell her that otherwise the FF's storyline would be off from what I wanted it turn out...So I thought, why not make a story for Ace alone, kekeke :D

Warning: My English is not the best but I always try my best on translating! This is also a translated FF which was original written in German (also by me) :)

Please enjoy! Reviews as well as criticism are welcome ;)

**__****Disclaimer for all my stories:****__**** I own neither the Manga nor the Anime, all rights go to there rightful owners. Only the storyline (except for the original parts of the Anime/Manga) and the OCs are mine.**

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

**Life or death?**

The war was still going on. Pirates and marines slaughtered each other blindly. No one showed any sign of mercy. Both parties had only their own goals in their mind. And on both parties the reason for that was just one person:

Portgas D Ace.

Life or death? What was his destiny? Would the bloodline of the once 'king of pirates' die with him today? Would his efforts to be a pirate independent from his origin and not so great childhood be destroyed today? Was it all meaningless? They knew now. Sengoku revealed his worst secret. There was no backing out now. Life or death? No matter what would happen, he would accept it nonetheless. That was his decision. His friends, his family and even Luffy, his beloved younger brother, were here and wanted to rescue him! But why? Was it not already clear what was going to happen? He condoned it already, he knew there was no way to change his fate. Even so, even so they still fought! For him! For his life!

Life or death?

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Unknown POV:

Now the marines really did it! They went against Whitebeard, 'The strongest man in the world'! They wanted war. It was interesting on one hand but also very cruel on the other hand. Should I just stand by and watch a young man playing the decoy to lure Whitebeard and his crew? Technically it should not matter to me as I do not have any relation with that man but I remembered something from my past, my very own salvation, my lifesaver, Whitebeard. My time with the Whitebeard pirates was short but nice. When I thought back to that time a smile would still find its way onto my lips. Even though I was not bound to them, I still remembered them clearly. And so my decision was definite. I would help them, pay back my favor and get Portgas D Ace out of there alive.

The island where I stayed when I heard of the news was not too far away from the location of the soon to be war zone. I would still arrive a little later than Whitebeard and the others. That was something I was rather sure of. My animal companion, a mix of a cat and a water snake, would escort me to my destination. Her head was that of a cat and her body was that of a water snake. She had cat claws as well as fins. Her name was Eos. She was by my side since a few years. She would not disappoint me, I could always count on her. Eos had been there for me in my worst times.

On the way to Marineford we passed some of the rookies from this year. For example Eustass 'Captain' Kid and his crew. They looked quite surprised as they saw me, and also a little interested but I ignored them and concentrated on my destination instead. It was right before me, just a few more minutes.

As I finally arrived at Marineford I had to leave Eos and walk on alone. The water was frozen and Eos could not handle that, she was just not cut out for such circumstances.

I ran over the ice to the Moby Dick which I noticed immediately. I jumped on the large ship and ran to the bow. At the front I searched around the battlefield over all the clashes. It was horrible! A terrific nightmare! My feelings turned into chaos in my head and my eyes burned from the salty tears which threatened to pour out any moment. I hated this brutality! I could just not understand why there were actually people who wanted violence! But I had to overcome it for now and concentrate.

I could make out some members of the Whitebeard pirates as well as Whitebeard himself. And there was also this screaming rookie, Monkey D Luffy. I was unaware of the happenings from before but it seemed like the marines attacked mostly the young pirate. But why this boy? He was only a rookie, was he?

"Despina-san! Where did you come from? Will you help?" I turned around and found a familiar face behind me.

"Namur-san! What happened here?!" Of course I was happy to see him again but on the other hand it was not really the best way or time for a reunion.

"Sengoku announced that Ace-san the son of Gol D Roger is and that Monkey D Luffy's father Dragon the revolutionary is! Furthermore they accelerated the execution! Despina-san, you will help us, right?" Fire fist was the son of the pirate king?! And...and that little rookie down there was the son of Dragon the revolutionary?! That was crazy! With this information it was now understandable for me why the government wanted to take that rookie down so desperately. But it looked like he wanted to rescue Ace.

"Of course! Don't forget I still own you!" I nodded at him and leaped into the chaos below. Set out to the scaffold.

HHHH

The rookie used Haoushoku-Haki! And he did not even notice it! He had potential. He was like a diamond in the raw. I was sure that the world would still hear from him in the future, if he stayed alive till the end of this war, that was.

HHHH

The strawhat boy did it! He got Portgas D Ace down from the scaffold and out of his sea stone shackles. I was relieved but there was also this weird feeling in the guts. As if there was still something bad to happen today! I could always rely on my intuition. Not even once was it wrong! I had to get closer to them as soon as possible or there would be a disaster today. Besides the already ongoing war, of course.

HHHH

And my intuition was right as ever! Something horrible happened! Akainu wanted to attack the rookie next but Ace jumped in between them to protect the younger pirate and therefore became the new target.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Ace POV:

I could see as Akainu moved his fist, which he had turned into magma, to Luffy. I saw red and did not know what to do but to jump right before my little brother to protect him. I closed my eyes and transformed my body into fire. I awaited the deathblow by the red admiral. His magma would definitely be stronger than my fire, I was certain of that, I just felt it. This unbelievable heat, hotter than my fire could ever be.

But against my expectations there came nothing. Instead there were suddenly heard whispers from the crowd around us and shocked gasps. From both sides, marines and pirates. I felt no pain, so, I was not hit, right? I opened my eyes slowly and looked to the front. And I saw:

A blonde girl standing in front of me!

She held her hands outstretched against Akainu. She intercepted his magma fist! The admiral made a surprised face with a touch of confusion and shock. He seemed to think. You could see the anger on his face. I turned to Luffy and saw that he was exhausted and on the verge of passing out.

"'Gem of the Abyss', Despina Gregory. How come you are here? What are you up to?" I looked back at the girl and the admiral.

"Heh! I'll stop you, are you blind?" She screamed at the man ahead of her. Then she made a giddy spin and kicked Akainu in the stomach. His body turned from magma back to normal in an instant, Haki! And he flew a few meters back. It was really just a few meters but it was enough to increase his anger even more.

"You bitch!" The admiral started a new attack and flung his magma at her. That would absolutely land by Luffy and me, too! And she just stood there! Damn! Who was she? Her name rung no bell for me!

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Despina POV:

The magma came closer and closer to me. Some of it might also land near the guys behind me. I stayed where I was. In my opinion he should get a dose of his own medicine. I moved both of my hands in front of my body again and stretched them out at the magma.

Reflection: Mirror!

A window-like wall appeared. One side was mirroring its opposite, that was the one turned to Akainu, the other was a normal window sight. You could look straight through. This 'window' was more like a mirror. And everything that hit this mirror was reflected. So the opponent got his own attack back and we stayed spared from it.

As all the magma was gone the mirror vanished again and I turned to Portgas D Ace and Monkey D Luffy. Both gave me an incredulous look. The rookie appeared drained to me and the Whitebeard-pirate looked also at least slightly tired.

"What are you still doing here? Scram! Now!" Ace got out of his daze and took the younger boy. He threw him over his shoulder and looked indecisive at me.

"What?"

"Why are you helping me?" Pfft. I helped him only because I helped the Whitebeard-pirates with this.

"I repay my debt. And now move! I can't take Akainu on fore-" I was interrupted by the red admiral as he clutched onto my sweatshirt jacket from behind and transformed his arm into magma. I felt the insane heat on my back and got out of my jacket as fast as I could. Barely freed I already jumped protectively in front of Ace and the younger boy.

Reflection: Me!

A mirror image of me manifested itself beside me and faced me. I nodded and together we ran towards the admiral. That the young boys behind me now had the opportunity to see my back clearly was oblivious to me.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Ace POV:

"Why are you helping me?" I asked her curiously and a slightly distrustful.

"I repay my debt. And now move! I can't take Akainu on fore-" She was interrupted by Akainu as he attacked her anew. He held onto her jacket and activated his devil fruit power again. Damn! His arm turned into magma and the jacket would soon start to burn to ashes! What should I do? I had to protect Luffy! Damn! Damn! Dam...

I stopped the cursing as I saw that the young woman had freed herself from the admiral taking off her jacket. Now she stood with her back to us. My eyes widened. I was congealed. Luffy must have felt it, his head lifted up slightly.

"What happened Ace?" I did not answer. He then looked at the same direction as I did and finally saw it, too. His eyes widened as well. "Ey Ace, i-isn't that your emblem?" I could only nod.

We could now see the back of the blonde girl freely. Under her jacket she wore a halterneck top with two more ties in the middle and lower part of her back. She was virtually low-backed. And there you could see our emblem! Whitebeard's emblem! She was a Whitebeard-pirate? Why did I not know her? Why had I never heard of her before? Who the hell was she?!

Reflection: Me!

Suddenly she had a doppelganger! Together they ran to the red admiral and started to fight against him for some time. I could not move and just stared at the two blonde girls completely astonished. After a few minutes the real girl came towards Luffy and me. She got a hold of my right arm and dragged me after her.

"Let's go already! Why are you even still here? Argh!"

When the next attack of Akainu came it was stopped by Marco and Vista. Afterward they accompanied us.

"Ehh, Despina-chan is back? Welcome back, lil' sister! We missed you!" Vista said.

I was right! She was one of us! But her answer from before was somehow strange...Payback for her debt? What debt could that be?

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Despina POV:

"Marco, Vista, I only repay my debt, that's all. If not for that I would definitely not be here today because-"

"Because you detest violence! Of course we know that, Pina-chan, but we are happy to see you again anyway! It has been so long already. The last time we saw you, you were still a lil', cute gi-" "Ouch!" Now the commandant had a growing bump on his head. That he always had to exaggerate! It was not the time for nostalgia now! We were still in the middle of a war!

"Instead of talking about the past you should better concentrate on finding a way out of here! Idiot!" Vista chuckled and Marco looked offended to the side.

To take a hike was easier said than done actually. Especially since the Strawhat was heavily injured and needed help, fast! Furthermore the three admirals were after us at the same moment, too! Whitebeard took care of Akainu but Kisaru and Aokiji existed as well. So we took separate ways to get out of this hell. I searched with Ace and Luffy for a doctor and means of escape, while the others retreated with their men and searched for a way out of here, too.

On the edge of the chaos I saw another rookie, Trafalgar Law, with his submarine. It was yellow. I could not think further of this thing. The young captain called out to us to get on board and that he was a doctor. Yes, 'Surgeon of Death'. Could we trust him? Beats the hell out of me. But I did not really care right now because we had no choice but to take his offer, if we wanted to stay alive, that was. So we took the chance and leaped on the deck of the yellow submarine.

HHHH

The 'Snake Princess' allowed us to anchor on there island. Though it was far away from the city, it was okay. At least we had a place to hide for the moment. Luffy was still unconscious and Ace had thousands of bandages. He sat on a cliff and stared at the ocean. I took a seat near the fireplace which was made by some Heart-pirates just a few minutes ago.

"You are Despina Gregory, am I right there, Miss?" I looked up and nodded at Trafalgar Law as an answer.

"Interesting." That was all he said, than he turned around and went to a tree just to sit there with his back leaning on the trunk.

HHHH

In the evening Ace came over to me and asked for a moment. I followed him as he walked into the forest, waiting for him to finally ask his questions. Of course I saw that he was curious about me. It was so obvious!

"Who are you?"

"Despina Gregory."

"Well, yes, I know...Akainu said so already but I mean, ehm, well, the tattoo on your back...well..."

"I was a member of the Whitebeard-pirates, does that answer your question? But that was a long time ago."

The look on his face changed and he seemed to think about his next question.

"And you said something about repaying a debt?"

"Yes."

"Ehm, what debt did you mean?" Somehow it was amusing how unsure and still unerring he asked his questions. A smile found its way onto my lips.

"You are really curious, are you firefist? When I was younger I was captured by some extremely brutal pirates. They wanted me to be their own little slave and held me exactly for four months, two weeks, three days, eight hours, thirty-one minutes and eleven seconds captive. I counted every day, every hour, every minute, yes, even every second in this horrible time of my life! It was the only thing that kept my head clear..." His expression was shocked now. "The moment I thought I couldn't take it anymore, I should die and just end this merciless suffer, he came! Whitebeard appeared and saved me from those monsters! He made me a member of his crew. They helped me to get stronger and on one of my missions I even found a Devil Fruit!"

"But why have I never heard of you?"

"Well, ask Marco or the others about that, how should I know? In the end I left the crew after two years and since then traveled around the oceans on my own. My nickname is 'Gem of the Abyss' and my Devil Fruit's power is the mirror-ability. I can reflect everything, even myself, as you already saw before."

"You left the Whitebeard-pirates? Why? Did something happen?"

"Wow, you really, really ARE extremely curious! No, nothing happened. I just felt like I had to get away. There was no special reason." I had to refrain myself from laughing, but I could not help to at least snicker a little.

"Oh." And then it became quiet. I enjoyed the silence, it was wonderful, especially after the chaos from before.

He was actually kinda cute.

**~~~~~~The End~~~~~~**


End file.
